Not Even The New York Times Can Ignore Cuba’s Notorious Self-sufficiency in Vaccination against COVID-19

By Yisel González Fuentes on September 26, 2021

Photo: Ariel Cecilio Lemus

A tweet from the Finlay Vaccine Institute brought attention to the fact that “The New York Times recognizes #Cuba as the only country in the world to vaccinate children as young as 2 years old against #COVID19.It added that Cuba’s self-sufficiency in vaccination against #COVID19 is notorious considering the inequality in vaccination in the world,” published the scientific institution.

Under the title Cuba hopes to achieve “full immunization” with homegrown vaccines by December 31, 2021, the so called newspaper of record highlights the achievements of Cuba’s medical and scientific communities, highlighted by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, during the General Debate of the 76th Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

As part of his speech, quoted by The New York Times, the Cuban Head of State addressed the colossal challenges of the nation, strongly besieged by the United States, but capable of responding to the international emergency caused by the pandemic – and guided by its deep solidarity and humanist vocation – by sending more than 4,900 medical professionals, organized in 57 medical brigades, to 40 countries and territories affected by the COVID-19.

He also pointed out the pride for the Cuban scientific community that, in the midst of enormous shortages, created three vaccines and two vaccine candidates against COVID-19, which has made it possible that in the first 10 days of September, more than 15.8 million doses of Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus vaccines had been administered, and at this point 37.8% of the Cuban population has completed the vaccination schedule.

“We aspire to the total immunization of the population by the end of 2021, which will allow us to advance in the fight against the resurgence of the pandemic,” the president added.

The New York Times, in this respect, published that “Cuba’s supposed self-sufficiency in COVID-19 vaccination is notorious in the panorama of inequality in vaccination around the world, where most of the vaccine doses made so far have gone to richer nations, while many people in poorer countries have yet to receive their first doses.”

He also noted that this month, Cuba began vaccinating children as young as two years old against the coronavirus, making it the only country that has so far vaccinated people of that age.

As part of the fight against COVID-19 in the Greater Antilles, the vaccination process, which already covers the entire national territory, has been defined by the country’s leadership as one of the most important tasks of the present.

In this sense, the beginning of vaccination in pediatric ages constitutes an important step forward in the protection against COVID-19 of this vulnerable population group, which has been possible due to the sustained work for years in pediatric platforms.

The Finlay Vaccine Institute has specified that the vaccination scheme for this group is with a 3 part cycle of 0, 28 and 56 days, and is aimed at the maturation of the immune response and the generation of immunological memory over this time period.

The first official exchange between Cuban experts and the World and Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO) to deal with issues related to the vaccines developed in our country against the disease caused by SARS-COV-2, took place on September 16, in virtual format.

Source: Granma, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English